Buzz Blog

Plan-B Theatre: Block 8

Starting off
the 2009 portion of their season, Plan-B immediately jumps into the historic
with a play that touches topics that still hit hard to this day. BLOCK 8 takes
a look at a darker chapter from World War II, focusing on the imprisonment of
Japanese living in the United States
into interment camps, one of which was located just west of Delta here in Utah. The play kicks off
to already sold out shows on February 20th and runs until March 8th
over at the Rose Wagner. I got a chance to chat with playwright Matthew Ivan
Bennett, actors Anita Booher and Bryan Kido, and director Jerry Rapier about
the play. ---

Matthew: My first dramatic experience was in the “Pied Piper Of Hamlin”
in the fourth grade; unless you count playing with He-Man action figures
theatre. I knew I wanted to be a writer in the third grade. Having lots of
books, being cloistered, growing a beard, and living in front of a typewriter
(this was the '80s) seemed like a good life to me. I knew I wanted to be in
theatre specifically when I was 14. The first serious acting I did was the part
of Death in the play "Everyman." From there I devoured Shakespeare,
began wearing all black, and replaced the white light bulbs in my room with
blue bulbs. I'm now wearing color again and I use compact fluorescents.

Jerry: I've been in SLC since 1994, with Plan-B since 2000, and have
recently developed an addition to Wii Tennis!

Anita: A native of the South, I’ve been acting since college. SaltLake
theatre companies have provided me with the gifts of challenging roles and
wonderful actors and directors to work with.

Bryan:
I first became interested in drama when I was 12 years old. My mom forced me
into a summer youth drama program and at first I hated it. Then I began to
enjoy it. My mom also took me to lots of plays/musicals and some operas.
Slowly, I became fascinated with the magic of the theatre and of stage
performance. A few years later I took some drama classes in High school and
realized I needed lots of work on my "acting" it was terrible, I KID
YOU NOT! So I began reading lots of plays and auditioned for the U of U Actor
Training Program. The first time they didn't accept me but the next year they
did. I spent 4 years of college studying scene work, monologues, singing,
voice, and movement techniques etc etc. Also did some college plays. So after
graduation I had my BFA in Acting and BLOCK 8 definitely tests all of my acting
skills!

Gavin: Tell us about the upcoming play BLOCK 8.

Jerry: BLOCK 8 is a two-person play set inside Topaz, the Japanese
internment camp that was in operation sixteen miles west of Delta, Utah during
World War II. Ken is a young internee grappling with whether to enlist in the
military to prove his loyalty to the United States. Ada is a Caucasian librarian whose son is
fighting in the Pacific. Their unlikely friendship offers insight into the
paranoia, distrust and xenophobia that led to the existence of Japanese
internment camps.

Gavin: How did you learn about the camp set up here in Utah, and what was some of the history
behind it?

Matthew: I first learned about the camp through my mother at seven or
eight years old. On a family camping trip at TopazMountain
she explained to me that there had been a concentration camp a few miles away
for Japanese. I didn't understand at first that the camps were run by
Americans; I thought the Germans sneaked inside US borders, rounded up the
ethnic Japanese, and operated the camps without us knowing. My understanding of
good and evil changed a lot when I figured out that we (the Americans) ran the
camps. I grew up in the Cold War in the '80s and at the time I was playing
"Kill the Commie" with my cousins.

Jerry: Fifteen years ago, I happened upon a shelf of books about the
Japanese internment in the City Library. Even though I knew I was half
Japanese, I had never really thought about that as a part of me until that
moment. Since then I've wanted to develop a piece of theatre about the
internment specific to Utah.

Anita: I knew, of course, about the internment in our history, but my
knowledge of Topaz was limited to the fact that it was one of the camps and was
located in Utah.
After we were cast, Bryan and I were treated to a tour of the camp and the TopazMuseum
by Jane Beckwith of Delta. The images from that trip inform much of what we do
on stage.

Bryan:
It's literally part of my family history. I have family members who were
interned at Minidoka (in Idaho) and here in Utah.

Gavin: Where did the idea come from to write a play based on it, and
what was the process like writing it?

Matthew: The idea for a play evolved out of conversations with Jerry
about pieces of Utah and U.S. history that are little known
and should be known. The play is expressionistic in a lot of ways, so the
process of writing it was similar to the poetry writing process. I re-visited
the internment site and noted as many "small noticings" as I could:
ravens, greasewood, mountains like the corpses of giant lizards, dirt like
moondust, etc. I imagined what Ken and Ada's
dreams were like--and I put those images in the play. On a thematic level, I
started out trying to write a "balanced" treatment of the pro-camp
versus the anti-camp viewpoints. However, I soon realized I couldn't write that
play because I personally find the internment to have been racist and
unconstitutional. So I focused instead on the question of: "If your country
imprisoned you on suspicion of being a spy and then asked you to prove you
weren't by serving in a war, would you do it?" Given today's general
attitudes about government, this may seem like an uncomplicated question; but
to the interned Nisei it was incredibly complex. The Nisei grew up American and
wanted to be American. They wanted their immigrant parents to be able to stay
in the country and not be shipped back to Japan. They were lonely in the
camps. And being Nisei, being between cultures, a lot of them were possessed
with a fundamental desire to prove themselves.

Gavin: For the actors, what was your first impressions of it when you
got wind of the script?

Anita: I liked Matt’s script from the moment I read it. Not only does it
educate us about the internment history and experience, but it does so
beautifully by focusing on the tender and unlikely friendship between these two
characters. I love the idea of these two people finding caring and support in
each other to help them through a very, very dark time in their lives.

Bryan:
When I first got a hold of the script it really kept my attention and it was
very refreshing to read something that is not often talked about, especially
from Japanese Americans from that generation.

Gavin: What was the audition process like for you going in? And how did
it feel to know you had the part?

Matthew: The audition process was cake for me. Everyone who showed up
was excellent, and it was only a matter of finding the combination of Ada's and Ken's that
clicked. When Anita and Bryan
read opposite of each other it was clear that these two actors could have
actually been people like this in the early '40s.

Jerry: I was nervous we wouldn't find a Japanese actor - but we had 6 to
choose from! And there's such a wealth of talent among actresses in their 50s
in this city we knew we'd have our pick of the best - which we did!

Anita: I was ecstatic to learn that I had been cast. The script was
beautiful, and it is always such a treat to work with Jerry and Plan-B. I feel
very fortunate to have this experience.

Bryan:
The audition was a very great feeling and I knew being Japanese American was
very important for this play and for the role of Ken. Since I was auditioning
for a part that fit my age and ethnicity I didn't worry or second guess myself.

Gavin: The opening happens the day after Day of Remembrance. Tell us a
little about that order, and what is Plan-B doing to reflect?

Jerry: To be honest, it's simply serendipity. We have to schedule our
rentals in the Rose Wagner several years in advance. And the stars aligned
(like they seem to do for us) for the timing to be perfect. We couldn't have
scripted it better.

Gavin: Are you looking to draw in the comparison to more recent events
in history, or did that come about as more coincidence than design?

Matthew: I could see the parallels from the beginning, but as I
researched the internment and the war, the parallels became ever stronger.
There was a surprise attack on US
soil. A few thousand were killed. The country revved up into a patriotic fervor
and propaganda rained from the sky. Racism became excusable. We went to war. We
made mistakes.

Jerry: It's inevitable in the wake of 9/11. One of Obama's first acts as
President was to sign an Executive Order to close GuantanamoBay.
The order FDR signed to authorize the creation of the Japanese internment
camps, Executive Order 9066, is the order that remained open and made Guantanamo possible. So
it's coming full circle. In the case of the Japanese internment, 120,000 people
were displaced from their homes, 110,000 of them interned. And not one of them
was charged, much less convicted of espionage.

Gavin: You already sold out some of the dates in advance. Did you expect
that kind of reception or are you surprised?

Jerry: I always err on the side of caution with ticket sales - I never
want to expect sellouts. But I hope! And it's wonderful to see the response -
it looks like we'll be about 85% sold out by the time the show opens on
February 20th. I couldn't be happier, particularly in this economic
climate.

Gavin: Are there any future plans for the play after its run?

Jerry: We are touring the show to Delta and Moab in late April. Delta because
it's the location of Topaz. Moab
because there was a smaller camp there (MoabCitizensIsolationCenter)
where men, considered a possible threat at Topaz, were sent. I find it ironic
that 'Citizens' is part of the title.

Gavin: Is there anything else you'd like to say about BLOCK 8 and this
experience so far?

Matthew: Writing and preparing the play for production has altered the
way I think about politics. I was a debater in high school and I earnestly
believed in the democratic process. I still believe in the democratic process,
except now I see how democracy is hid behind and is used as an excuse for
anti-empathetic behavior. I also see that nothing is ever resolved by the
fierce collision of viewpoints. A man with imbalanced views only regains
balance through risking empathy.

Jerry: Honestly, it's a dream come true.

Anita: I hope the audiences find the play as illuminating and touching
as I do.

Bryan:
BLOCK 8 has made me reflect a lot on what it was like being Japanese American
in the 1940s. I don't think I could EVER imagine what some of my family had to
endure--the prejudice and hate they all had to put up with.

Gavin: Aside from the obvious is there anything you'd like to plug or
promote?

Jerry: BLOCK 8 is the centerpiece of this year's Day of Remembrance
events. There is also series of free events--a photo exhibit and several film
screenings--through February 24. Details can be found here.Check out our next production, DI
ESPERIENZA, a dissection of the man, the myth and the self-doubt of Leonardo da
Vinci. April 3-10. Click here
for more info.